Corner-turning indicator for automobiles.



S.JACKSON. CORNER TURNING INDiCATOR FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1, 19H.

Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHHET 1.

s. JACKSON.

CORNER TURNING INDICATOR FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APFLICA'HON FILED JUNE 1, 1914.

Patented Apr 20, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

M JL .27 J12 SUMNER JACKSON, 03? DENVER, COLORADO.

CORNER-TURNING INDICATOR FOR- AUTOMOBILES.

Specification of Letters j fiatent.

Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

Application filed June 1, 1914. Serial No. 842,163.

T all whom it may concern Be it known that I, SUMNER JACKSON, a citizenof the United States of America, residing in the city and county ofDenver and State of Colorado, have invented a new and usefulCorner-Turning Indicator for Auto mobiles, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to an electrically operating street corner turningindicator and alarm signal for use on automobiles to indicate thevehicles in the rear of a car which way the car is going to turn; andthe objects of my invention are: First, to provide an indicator for therear end of antomobiles, by means of which a chauffeur of an automobileapproaching the intersect ing corners of two streets, can indicate to achauffeur in a car close behind the direction he intends to take, thatis, whetherhe intends to turn around the right hand or around the lefthand corner. Second, to provide also an indicator to indicate to a carbehind that he intends to stop. 'And third, to provide an alarmindicator that will indicate the direction of turning corners, as wellas sounding an alarm to call attention of the chauffeur in the rar carto the car immediately in front of him, in

order that his attention may be called to the corner turningindicator. Iattain these'objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1, is a rear side view of the 1mm-oved direction indicator, thecover there for being removed. Fig. 2, is a front side view of the same,showing the outside indicating sign. Fig. 3, is a vertical, transversesectional view with the cover in place.

his a plan view, the cover being removed. Fig. 5',is a fragmental planview showing the application of the indicator to an automobile. And Fig.6, is a diagrammatic view illustrating the batteries, the magnets, thecircuit closers, and armatures connected to the pivoted sign supportingframes, and comprising the electrical operating means for the indicator.

Similar letters of reference refer to simi la,r parts throughout theseveral views.

My corner turning indicator is intended to be secured to the rear end ofan automobile, and to be operated by an electric current furnished froma group of batteries placed in the car; where cars have a supply ofelectric current, my indicator can be connected to that supply. Mycorner turning indicator is adapted to be operated by the chauffeur bythe manipulation of switches, which may be arranged to be controlled bythe chaufleur as desired. I preferably arrange it to be operated by pushbutton switches, which are positioned convenientl to be manipulated by ahand of the chau fear, but if desired these switches can be operated bya chaufi'eurs foot. Referring to the drawings,The numeral 1 designates acabinet, and it consists of a base plate 2, a cover or lid 3, and sideplates The cover or'lid maybe removably secured to lift bodily from thebase and side plates, or it may be hinged to the base to swing open. Ihave illustrated it as being adapted to be raised bodily from the base,to which itanay be securely but removably fastened by any suitablemeans. 7

The front side of the cabinet is provided with'a glass front portion 5,through which Iight'enters the cabinet and enables .a person somedistance from the rear end of a car on which my indicator is placed, toreadily read the signs I employ,1n the day time, and as readily in thenight time, as the interior of the cabinet may be illuminated, or alight thrown on the signs from the outside. When the interior of thecabinet is illuminated, a transparent sign would be used. My invention,however, contemplates the use of an electric light to illuminate thesigns by night, and I have illustrated the same lighted from both theinterior and outside. Upon the base plate 2 of the cabinet, and betweenits sides, I socure the operative sign, alarm, and illuminatingmechanism of my invention, which consists, of the followinginstrumentalities: Along the rear side of the base plate, I place threemagnets 6, 7, and 8. These magnets may consist of any type or shape ofmagnet that is adapted to be energized by an electric current. Ipreferably illustrate, however,each of these magnets made in the form ofa pair of magnetic coils wound on suitable spools. coil magnets isprovided with a pole piece 9, that projects slightly above the top of'thc fiber disk 10 of the spool, and is preferably fiat on top, andthose of the three pairs of coils are preferably all of the same height.Adjacent to these three pairs of coil magv nets, and in operative makeand break relation to thein, I place make and break arma- Each spool ofeach pair of i tures 11, 12, and 13. These armatures are supported byany suitable apparatus, in make and break relation to the magnets, tooperate the three signs I use in my indicator when necessary. 1preferably, however, carry out this feature of my invention in thefollowing manner: Each armature is preferably suspended to hang frombrackets l-t, two brackets being shown, one at each end portion of eacharmature. The armatures are attached to the brackets loosely, preferably15, which are attached to the armatures at one end and it loosely inapertures formed in the free ends of the brackets, and the opposite endsof each pair of brackets of each armature are secured to a cross bar.There are consequently three separate cross bars 17, 18 and 19, and thearmature 11 is secured to the cross bar 17, the armature 12 is securedto the cross bar 18, and the armature 13 is secured to the cross bar 19.These three cross bars are entirely independent of each other, and eachis provided with a reciprocal movement that is imparted to it by themake and break reciprocal movement of the a rmatures to and away fromthe poles of the magnets, and these reciprocal movements of thearmatures and cross bars operate to raise the three signs I employ toindicate the corner turning direction and if the chauffeur intends tostop. One of these three signs has paiy ted on it the word Right,another the word Left," and another the word Stop; and they are raisedone at a time by these three cross rods, moved one at a time by theirarmatures in front of the glass window of the cabinet, where ea 1 may beseen and read from a considerable distance at the rear of the ear theindicator is on.

There are a number of ways in which these features of my invention maybe operated. 1 preferably, however, carry out these features of myinvention in the following manner: The three cross bars that support thethree armatures are secured to the peripheries of three disks. The crossbar 17 is secured to disks 20, the cross bar 18 to disks 21, and thecross bar 19 to disks 22, and the disks as well as the cross bars areentirely independent of each other. All six of these disks are rotatablymounted on a cross shaft 23, that extends between and through the sidestandards, and is remov ably secured thereto preferably by threaded endsand nuts at its opposite ends. disks are made progressively enoughlarger than each other to allow the cross bars to lie side by sideparallel to and far enough from each other to prevent them frominterfering with each other. These disks are arranged in. pairs, onepair of the same size being provided for each, cross bar, and they arepositioned at opposite end portions of the shaft inside of the standardsand close by hooks The enough together to oscillate on the shaft withoutinterfering with iach other. From the opposite sides of each pair ofthese cross bar supporting disks, two wire fran'ies 25, 2G, and 27eXtend to the front end glass display portion of the cabinet. The frames25, 2G, and 27 of these three pairs of disks, consist of right angularshaped frames made preferably of round wire bent into a three sidedshape, with the free ends of the two frames inserted onto theperipheries of the disks, or they can be otherwise secured to them.

There are two wire frames secured to each pair of disks, and each frameextends from one disk of each pai along the adjacent side standard tothe front glass display side of the cabinet. and along that side of thecabinet to close to the opposite standard. and along it to the otherdisk of the pair of disks to which the wire frame belongs. The two wireframes extend from each pair of disks at different 'adial angles ofsullicieut divergence to support between them a sign which is secured tothem at its upper and lower side edges, by any suitable means. Thus thesign with the word Right on it, is secured to the two wire frames 25 ofthe outside disks 20 that support the cross bar 17. The two wire frames26 of the next pair of disks 21 support the sign with the word Left onit, and the two wire frames .2? of the disks 22 support the sign withthe word Stop on it. These three wire frames are arranged so that theynest one within the other close together, but still far enough apart toentirely clear each other in their operative display movements. T hesign words are preferably painted on strips of card-board, and thecard-board strips are secured along their upper and lower edges to thewire frames, by any suitable means. MyQnvention, however, contemplatesany suitable type or form of lettering for the words used, and any wayof securing them to any kind of a supporting device that can be moved bythe wire frames and the disks and the cross bars, or other equivalentmechanism that can be operated by the reciprocal make and break movementof the armatures.

The armatures, the cross bars, the disks, and the wire frames of eachsign support ing mechanism, form a rock arm that pivotally tilts andoscillates on the shaft as the armatures are reciprocally drawn towardthe magnets when they are energized by the current, and move away fromthem when the magnets release them, owing to the overbalanciug weight ofthe signs, which are provided to move the armatures up from the magnetswhen they fall to the floor of the cabinet below the window after being!raised up in front of it by the downward movement of the armatures.

The three signs normally rest on the floor Eli taaeaaa of the baseplate, and the wire frames and disks are so relatively arranged to thereciprocal make and break movement of the armatures to the adjacentpoles of the magnets, that each sign is raised from the floor-up infront of the display glass of the cabinet by the downward movement ofthe armatures due to the magnetic attraction of the coil magnets whenenergized by a current of electricity, as will be more fully describedhere inafter.

Each pair of coils is connected in circuit by circuit wires that extendto the group of batteries which I employ on automobiles that are notequipped with batteries or other sources of current supply. Thebatteries may be placed in any convenient place about the automobile,and as many are employed as may be required for the purpose. Oneterminal of each pair of magnet coils is connected in circuit with onepole of the batteries, which are connected in series, and the otherterminals of the pairs of magnets are connected in circuit withindependent push button circuit closers 28, from each of which a secondwire extends to the other pole of the batteries, as will be understoodby reference to Fig. 6, and the three circuit closers are positionedpreferably on or adjacent to the steering wheel 29 of the automobile, orthey may be if desired positioned on the floor of the automobile inposition to be operated by a foot of the chauffeur, or may be attachedto the dash board in front of and within easy reach of the chauffeur,but wherever placed, they each must have the same indicating sign wordsas its responding sign. ach corner turning indicator is made of a sizethat enables it to be readily read at considerable distance in the rearof an automobile using it in the day time, but at night a light isrequired, and is so positioned as to illuminate the sign words of myindicator.

I illustrate it attached to the cabinet and supported above and farenough forward of the top of the cabinet to throw its light directlyagainst and through the glass dis play window onto the signs. The lampused is preferably the same operatively as the lamp and light system ofthe automobile, and is connected to it, but an independent lamp may beemployed, if desired. In order to attract. attention of a chauffeur in acar at the rear of the car using-my corner turning indicator, I employan electrically operating alarm bell 30, which is attached to thecabinet and is'operativelyconnected to the batteries and push buttoncircuits of the coil magnets. I do not illustrate these circuits, astheir arrangement is well known, but it is necessary that the bellcircuit be operated from each push button independent of the other, andthat they respond only to the push button and its magnet, in order thatthe currenj from the bell-may not aifect and accidentally operate one orboth of the other magnets and throw up the wrong sign word.

The operation of my street corner turning indicator is as follows: Thechaufl'eur on approaching close tothe corners of intersecting streets,and desiring to turn to the right hand, pushes theright hand sign pushbutton with the word Right either on it or close to it, and when hepushes it' the magnets 6 are energized and their poles draw the armaturedown to them, and hold it there as long as the chaufi'eur holds the pushbutton to close the circuit, and as the armature moves down, it tiltsthe cross bar 17 down with it and the pair of disks 20 are turned on theshaft and raise the wire frames 25 and the sign with the word Right onit up in front of the sign displaying window, in full view of any one inthe rear of the automobile, and the sign will stay up there in front ofthe glass window and in full view as'long at the chauffeur holds thepush button switch closed. The instant he releases the pressure on thepush button and opens the circuit, the magnetic circuit is broken, andthe armature is released, and the weight of the sign and its wire framebeing greater than that of the armature, the sign falls to the floor ofthe cabinet and raises the armature, which is tilted up by the pivotalturning movement of the disks 20 on the shaft... The other two magnetsare operated by the push buttons in the same way, and their armaturesare pulled down and the Signs Stop or Left are lifted up, depending onwhich push button switch is thrown in by the chaufi'eur, who pushes theStop push button switch if he desires to stop, or the Left push buttonswitch if he desires to turn the corner on his left.

And as each magnet and its armature and x the signs work independent ofthe others, they are reliable and positive in their action, and as eachsign is thrown up in front of the display window, the alarm bell ringscontinuously as long as the sign iS-held up by the chauffeur.

My invention provides a safe-guarding corner @[urning indicator thatwill obviate the liability of rear and collisions, and will give a senseof security to those using one of these automobiles.

And while I have illus trated and described the preferred constructionand arrangement of my invention, I do not wisli to be limited to theconstruction and arrangement shown, as many changes might be madewithout departing from the I spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as ,new and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

1. In a direction indicator for automobiles, the combination of acabinet comprising a base having side standards and a re-.

Ifiovable cover,- a shaft mounted in said standards, three disksof'diiferent diameters on each end of said shaft, the inner, the. middleand the outer disks on one end being of the same diameter as thecorresponding disks on the other end, cross bars connecting the disks oflike diameter, an armature depending from each cross bar, a pair of coilmagnets on the base below each armature in make and break relation tosaid armatures,sign-supporting frames connecting each pair of disks oflike diameter, in dicating cards secured to said frames, bearingrespectively the words Right, Left, Stop, a window in said cover, agroup of batteries, push button switches, and circuit wires arranged toconnect said switches to each pair of magnets independently of theothers and to said batteries for energizing said magnets, thereby toraise any required sign to the said window. 4

2. In a corner turnin stop and alarm indicator, the combination of asupporting base provided with side standards, a stationary shaftsupported in said standards,

three pairs of different sized disks rotatably mounted on said shaft,cross bars secured in- 1 dependently of each other to said disks,brackets depending from said cross bars, armatures depending looselyfromsaid brackets, wire frames projecting from and supported by each pair ofdisks, signs secured to and supported by said wire frames, with magnetsmounted on said base within magnetic make and break relation to saidarmatures, said armatures and disks and frames forming a rock armn'iechanism pivotally mounted on said shaft, having a reciprocaloscillating movement to and from said ma nets, means including a triplepush button circuit, and a supply of current for energizing said magnetsindividually to raise any predeterminee sign,-with a cover for saidcabinet provided with a display window arranged to display said signs,and an electric lamp arranged to illuminate said signs at night.

3. In a corner turning or stop indicator for the rear ends ofautomobiles, the c0mbination of a base plate having a pair of separatedstandards mounted thereon and supporting a shaft, three pairs of disksof difien ent diameters mounted on said shaft, three pairs ofindependent right angular-shaped sign supporting wire frames secured toand projecting from said pairs of disks, each pair of framesbeing'arranged to support a sign at its opposite .ends, one of saidsigns to be provided with the word Right, another with the word Left,and the other with the word Stop, a windowed cover arranged to beremovably secured to said base, cross bars connecting each individualpair of disks, an armature depending from each of said ci oss bars,magnets for said arn'iaturcs, circuit \vires, push buttons, andbatteries, operatively connected in circuit and positioned relative toeach other to permit any one of said three signs to be moved at will toand from said display window and means for limiting the up and downmovements of said frames.

i. In a direction-indicating device for automobiles, the combinationwith a cabinet, of a shaft mounted therein, disks of different diameterson opposite ends of said shaft, the inner disks being the smaller andthe disks on one end having the same diameter as the corresponding diskson the other end, bars connecting the disks of like diameter, armaturesin swinging engagemei'it with said bars, magnet coils beneath saidarnmtures in position to attract them, batteries, push buttons, andwires connecting said magnets, batteries and push buttons in circuit, awin dow in said cabinet, frames connecting the disks of like diameterhaving indicating signs in their outer ends and rods above and belowsaid frames to limit their movements, said frames being operated asrequired by the closing of a circuit through the batteries and magnets,by means of the proper push button. whereby an armature is attracted.and a frame is thereby rocked to bring its indicating sign back of thesaid window.

.111 testimony whereof I aliix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

SUMNER JACKSON.

Witnesses i. Sanonwr ELLIo'r'r, ADELLA M. Fownn.

